In My View - Schools and the BNP

In the 21st century, there should be no place for racism, or for the far right's politics of hate, in our schools

The Maurice Smith review was set up to assess what measures are needed to make this a reality. But, by failing to ban the most obvious measure -banning BNP members from working in schools - the review is a missed opportunity.

Membership of the BNP is incompatible with being part of the team delivering education. In fact, the union sees it as incompatible with delivering any public services at all. Our communities are diverse, and multi-racial and public service workers must be able to treat everyone equally.

Schools should be places where children learn values of equality, fairness and inclusion - values that will help create a just and fair society. Allowing BNP members to peddle their message of hate, or the freedom to discriminate against those from ethnic minorities, flies in the face of these principles.

The second missed opportunity of the review was the little attention it paid to the role of support staff. In today's schools, support staff play a significant role in delivering education. They can also have a closer, one-on-one relationship with the pupils they work with. Support staff monitor break-times and areas such as libraries. If left unchecked, support staff who are BNP members could let racist bullying take place.

The review could have also gone one step further, and highlighted the role support staff can play in encouraging community cohesion. Research shows that support staff more closely reflect the community they serve, than teachers. Given the right training, support staff could use this advantage to spread a more inclusive atmosphere in the school and beyond.

Last year UNISON health members voted to keep the BNP out of the NHS. It has already been banned for members of the police and prison officers, for very good reasons. Children deserve to be protected from the influence of the BNP, and UNISON will be pressing for this when the promised review of the guidance set out by Maurice Smith takes place next year.

Dave Prentis, UNISON General Secretary, writing in Nursery World

Police violence and arrests at Bolton

Above is a video of an 89 year old World War 2 veteran and anti-war campaigner Bertie Lewis being knocked down by riot police at the Bolton Stop the EDL protest. He served in RAF Bomber Command against Hitler and many of his comrades were killed.

The incident happened while he was protesting against the misnamed English Defence League an extreme Islamophobic fascist organisation, which had come to Bolton to stir up anti-Muslim hatred. The EDL is made up primarily of soccer hooligans. When Bertie Lewis was knocked down by the police in the Town Square of his home town in Bolton on Saturday, he was part of a group of other pensioners and disabled people.

In the film above, you can see Bertie brutally shoved aside (at 26 seconds) by a police officer carting someone off.


A counter-demonstration organised by Unite Against Fascism mobilised over 2000 anti-fascists which prevented the EDL from rampaging through the Asian areas of Bolton. The EDL had previously rampaged through Luton and Stoke assaulting Asians, attacking property and cars. White people who objected were denounced as "race traitors".

Numerous anti-EDL demonstrators were arrested - some extremely brutally - with the police deliberately targeting protest leaders. The film above may be useful for those who intend to take action against them. The video can be downloaded from here.

The police are not currently banned from joining the EDL as they are with the BNP.

Police worker sacked for being a BNP member

A police worker from Lancashire was sacked after it was discovered the person was a member of the British National Party.

Bosses say the worker, who worked in the force's eastern division which covers the Ribble Valley, Longridge, Clitheroe and other parts of East Lancashire, had their contract terminated after a leaked copy of the party's membership list was published online in 2008. An investigation was launched after the worker, who has not been identified, appeared on the list.

The disclosure was covered in answer to a Freedom of Information request to the force.

Ribble Valley MP Nigel Evans said all political parties should be treated the same. He added: "I think the guidelines should affect everyone equally. As much as I might hate everything the BNP stands for, they are a legal party and have representation at local government level and European Parliament level and they do score a lot of votes out there."

It is not clear what post the worker had within the force.

The Freedom of Information request also revealed that no Lancashire officers were affiliated to the far-right party. A spokesman for Lancashire police said: "Membership or promotion of the BNP by any member of the police service, whether police officer or police staff, is prohibited as it conflicts with our duty to promote equality."

Association of Chief Police Officer guidelines adds that the policy "specifically includes the British National Party".

Lancashire Evening Post

Question Crime - Taxpayers' £143k bill to protect Nick Griffin at the Beeb

Nick Griffin's disastrous appearance on Question Time landed taxpayers with a £143,000 security bill for protecting the BNP leader. That's how much police spent dealing with angry protesters outside BBC Television Centre, closing roads and using a helicopter to keep the far-right boss safe.

Furious critics have demanded Beeb chiefs cough up the cash out of the £17.5million they pocketed in bonuses last year.

Labour MP Andy Slaughter, whose constituency covers TV Centre at White City, West London, said: "It was a decision by managers to put him on the programme so maybe they should put their money where their mouth is. People will be horrified to find out that so much public money has been spent giving a fascist party their best-ever publicity."

The decision to invite Griffin on to Question Time sparked a furious backlash. Police had to draft in thousands of officers after anti-fascist groups called a demonstration. Diverting cops who should have been fighting crime in other areas cost £109,000 alone. Another £13,000 was spent on overtime pay for extra officers. The helicopter, transport costs, barriers and sign posting road closures added a further £21,000 to the bill.

BBC heads refused to say how much it spent on extra security for Griffin, claiming freedom of information laws didn't apply because staff may be put in danger. But Mr Slaughter branded the notion "ludicrous".

He added: said: "If the police can tell you how much it cost why can't the BBC? They should come clean about how much money they have wasted."

Mr Slaughter had tried to persuade the BBC to film Question Time at another location where Griffin's appearance wouldn't cause as much disruption. And he argued that allowing the racist BNP a platform in such a diverse area of the country was an insult to locals.

Before the show Beeb staff went around removing signs so any protesters who did break in would not be able to find senior managers' offices.

Griffin was humiliated when the audience and fellow panellists exposed and ridiculed his vile views. But he later presented himself as a victim in a bid to win sympathy.

Mirror

Drone used to monitor BNP event

A drone fitted with video cameras will be flown over a British National Party gathering in Derbyshire after dozens of protesters were arrested last year.

Police are using the plane to monitor the event near Ripley on 15 and 16 August and any protesters who turn out. Last year police arrested more than 30 protesters near the site off Codner Denby Lane, but no-one was charged. Officers said it would cost "about £500,000" to police the event. The plane will be used to record evidence.

Chief Constable Mike Creedon said: "We will apply to the Home Office for special funding which is occasionally available. I'm not overly hopeful about this. Last year's costs were something in the region of £300,000. It will be significantly more this year. I would think we're pushing around half a million pounds, and that comes from a budget which is already heavily stretched."

In a statement Derbyshire police said that a pilotless drone plane would be used to record evidence at the Red, White and Blue festival. The force said: "The drone, fitted with CCTV cameras, will be used by a trained operator from the manufacturing company. It will record any incidents of disorder for evidence-gathering purposes."

It said it was not the first force in the country to use drone planes.

BBC

Probe into assault on BNP leader

The British National Party leader Nick Griffin has made an assault claim to police after a man threw a pint of beer over him outside a pub.

The MEP was at The Falcon Inn in Painswick, Gloucestershire, on 11 July when there was an alleged confrontation involving a customer. The BNP leader said a man "came at me with a pint glass" as he left the pub.

A Gloucestershire police spokesman said officers were investigating the complaint.

Mr Griffin told BBC News Online: "Someone is entitled to say 'I don't agree with you', but no one is entitled to throw a pint of beer at you. I don't necessarily expect them to lock him up and throw away the key. He just needs to learn to keep his ideas to within the law."

The confrontation had been taken up by constituency Labour MP David Drew, who claimed in the House of Commons the "totally upstanding" man was given "one hell of a hiding" after the incident. Mr Griffin said it was Mr Drew's intervention which prompted him to make the formal police complaint.

He said: "I was prepared to leave it at that, because it seemed a waste of police time. But when we get Labour MPs standing up in the House of Commons spouting downright lies I felt I had no choice."

A police spokesman said: "Yesterday afternoon we received a call from a 50-year-old male regarding an incident outside the Falcon Inn public house at which he had a drink thrown at him. Officers are investigating the incident."

BBC

BNP planning to seize control of police through direct elections

The British National Party is drawing up plans to win control over policing when the Government introduces direct elections for police authorities

Leaders of the far-right party believe that their hardline message will chime with voters when, as expected, crime rises during the recession. They can be expected to exploit fears of crime caused by migrant workers in places where immigration from eastern Europe has been high.

Winning seats on police authorities would give the BNP influence over forces’ budgets, the appointment of chief officers and the allocation of resources.

Senior officers and police authorities are alarmed at the proposals for direct elections, which are supported, in differing forms, by Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. They fear that elections for police authorities would frequently have low turnouts, leading to the election of extremists and single-issue campaigners.

“We will be having a real go, there’s no doubt about that,” said Simon Darby, deputy leader of the BNP. “We have a staunch core of voters who are guaranteed to turn out and they could be enough to win us seats in these circumstances. Crime will undoubtedly rise in the recession – burglaries go up, car theft rises, there will be problems with drug pushers. People don’t want to put up with that and they’ll want something done about it. We have a nononsense approach to crime. People want the politically correct gloves taken off the police, they want to be told the truth about crime, and that’s exactly where we’re coming from.”

The Association of Police Authorities confronted Vernon Coaker, the Policing Minister, with its concerns about elections at its conference last week. But Mr Coaker said that he was convinced that “only direct election, based on geographic constituencies, will deliver the strong connection to the public which is critical”.

The minister dismissed fears that low turnouts would let the BNP win representation as “ridiculous”. He added: “The BNP has stood against many of the councillors on police authorities. They have stood against me. How have we beaten them? By persuasion; we have pointed out the racist nature of much of what they say.”

The 43 police authorities in England and Wales are currently made up of appointed members drawn from local councils or chosen to represent local communities.

Saima Afzal, of Lancashire Police Authority, said direct elections would mean less diversity.

“Women and people from minority ethnic communities already face significant barriers in achieving equal opportunities across many areas of everyday life,” she said. “Introducing elections would make it even harder for people who are currently underrepresented in the oversight of policing to get involved with their police authority.”

Bob Jones, chairman of the Association of Police Authorities, said: “Improving public confidence in policing must be our key aim for the future, but direct elections to police authorities are not the solution. Indeed, this is more likely to undermine confidence if directly elected representatives make promises they cannot deliver, or if policing is hijacked by single-issue groups or extremists. Yes, people want more ownership and say over local policing services, but the best way to do that is through ensuring the police are more responsive and accessible at a local level.”

The current proposals for elected police authorities are contained in a Home Office Green Paper, entitled “From the neighbourhood to the national: policing our communities together”, published in July.

Introducing the document, Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, said that she would introduce elected “crime and policing representatives” to “strengthen the democratic link between the public and the people who hold the police to account”.

The BNP says that it has more than 100 local and parish councillors, the latest of whom was elected in Lincolnshire on Thursday. It plans to make a major push to win seats in the elections to the European Parliament next June.

Times Online

Wales Police Boss Replies On BNP Ban

North Wales Chief Constable Richard Brunstrom has replied to a complaint that an invesitgation was made into the case of a police officer who endorsed a local councillor who is a member of the British National Party in Mold.

Mr Brunstrom replied:

"As you have chosen to write an open letter to me it seems only reasonable that I should provide an open response and let members of the public draw their own conclusions.

I cannot discuss the specific case that you raised as the alleged misconduct is still being investigated. However, I welcome the opportunity to comment on the general questions that you put and the inaccurate assertions that your letter contains.

You seem to have wilfully misinterpreted the comments attributed to the Police Federation Representative, Constable Jeff Birch, in the Daily Post on the 12th of April. Constable Birch carefully did not allow himself to be drawn into the specifics of the case being investigated and did not mention the endorsement of candidates. However, he did accurately represent what Police Regulations say about membership of the BNP; to alleviate any doubt about the Regulations let me quote for you the relevant parts.

Police Regulations 2003 Schedule 1 (as amended) provides:

Reg. 1 (1) A member of a police force shall at all times abstain from any activity which is likely to interfere with the impartial discharge of his duties or which is likely to give rise to the impression amongst members of the public that it may so interfere.

1 (2) A member of a police force shall in particular -
(a) not take an active part in politics;
(b) not belong to any organisation specified or described in a determination of the Secretary of State.

Annex AA - (the Secretary of State determined that from 1st January 2005 this provision come into force as follows):
No member of a police force may be a member of any of the following organisations-
(a) The British National Party
(b) Combat 18
(c) The National Front

These Regulations are quite simply the law of the land, as determined by Parliament. All officers are aware that when we join the Police Service our lives change; this change includes our not being able to play an active part in politics (no great hardship for most of us). It is precisely because I want to live in a parliamentary democracy, and not a police state, that I actively welcome this restriction on my private life. As police officers we cannot and must not give the impression that we might be beholden to any political party for that way lies perdition.

As to your suggestion that these restrictions are an infringement of the Human Rights Act of 1998, I suggest that you actually read the Act before making spurious comments such as this in future. For clarity, Article 10 of the European Convention, which is incorporated in our UK Act, sets out the right to freedom of expression, but also makes it clear that this right is not absolute and that such a right may be subject to restrictions as set out below:

Article 10 (2)
The exercise of these freedoms, since it carries with it duties and responsibilities, may be subject to such formalities, conditions, restrictions or penalties as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society, in the interests of national security, territorial integrity or public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, for the protection of the reputation or rights of others, for preventing the disclosure of information received in confidence, or for maintaining the authority and impartiality of the judiciary

Clearly the Government is fully entitled to put restrictions on the political activity of police officers, members of the armed services and a range of other public servants, and it has chosen, entirely properly, so to do. The message, set out clearly by the Act, is thus: if you want to play politics, don't join the Police. This is once again quite simply the law, and law which I wholeheartedly endorse both as a senior police officer and as a citizen.

You suggest that I may be concerned about being held to account by a BNP led local Council or Welsh Assembly. You are right. I am, but I assure you that I have not yet had cause to lose a moment's sleep worrying about this prospect.

You also write about so called 'positive discrimination advocated by a very misguided Lord Scarman. It would appear that you have never read The Scarman Report: The Brixton Disorders (1981). I can only suggest that you visit your local library and borrow the report before misrepresenting his views again. You may also wish to undertake some training so that you can understand the difference between positive action (both legal and desirable) and positive discrimination, which is neither.

To remove any remaining scintilla of doubt let me formally endorse the views of the Association of Chief Police Officers of England Wales and Northern Ireland, which in July 2004 unequivocally stated that police officers and staff should face dismissal if they join the BNP.

Membership of, or support for, the BNP is completely incompatible with the honour of holding the Office of Constable.

Yours sincerely
Richard Brunstrom
Prif Gwnstabl/Chief Constable

NEWSWALES.CO.UK

Welsh Policeman in BNP Fraud Investigation

POLICE have launched an investigation after allegations that an officer nominated a British National Party candidate in a Flintshire by-election.

North Wales Police are investigating after the arrest of BNP Assembly candidate Dallus Weaver, 41, of Mold, on suspicion of committing electoral fraud.

It is claimed the unnamed officer signed Mr Weaver's nomination form for the Flintshire Council by-election in Penyffordd in February.

Police confirmed they were investigating and said it is prohibited under the Police Regulations of 2003 for officers to take any active part in politics to ensure "the integrity of the force".

Mr Weaver, who is also standing as a candidate in next month's Welsh Assembly elections, was arrested at his home at 8.10am yesterday morning and taken to Wrexham Police Station.

While he was being questioned, a crowd of BNP members, including party chairman Nick Griffin, protested outside.

Mr Weaver, who came fifth in the Penyffordd by-election, said he was accused of forging one of the signatures of the 10 people who nominated him for the election, an allegation he denies.

He also claimed that during his interview, police questioned him about the fact a police officer had also nominated him and asked him to sign a witness statement to that effect.

Mr Weaver, who joined the BNP six months ago, dismissed the allegations. Mr Weaver was released without charge at about noon and was bailed to report to Mold Police Station on May 1.

A North Wales Police spokesman said: "We are investigating an alleged offence contrary to section 65A (1)(b) of the Representation of the People Act 2000, namely a false signature in election nomination papers.

"This offence is in relation to the local council elections in Flintshire. "Yesterday, Tuesday, April 3, a man was arrested in relation to this allegation and is currently being questioned about his involvement in the offence. "The returning officer for Flintshire has been notified of the investigation and is supportive of the police investigation."

Evening Leader News (eveningleader.co.uk)

My Life Of Fear On Whitley Streets

One of London’s top Muslim police officers has told of his fear when racist thugs threw a pig’s head in his garden while he was stationed in Whitley – what he calls “the BNP heartland of Reading”.

Ali Dizaei, chief superintendent in Hounslow for the Metropolitan Police, spent five years walking the beat in South Reading and Coley Park in the late 1980s. Chief Supt Dizaei later went on to the Met and was famously acquitted of two corruption charges at the Old Bailey, after a £7 million investigation that also saw him accused of drug taking, frequenting prostitutes, spying and using steroids.

The Iranian-born officer has now written a book, Not One Of Us, which attacks his accusers and contains allegations of racism inside and outside of the force during his time in Reading.

In the biography, Ch Supt Dizaei complains that of 15 probationary officers in the Thames Valley in 1986, he was the only one stationed in Whitley – which he describes as the BNP heartland of Reading.
He writes: “I was an Iranian immigrant and a copper – and in Whitley that was like being black twice over.”

His nightmare began when he was stationed in a police house in Hartland Road, which was overrun with rats and had been damaged by squatters.

When he bought homing pigeons, they were stolen, but flew back.

“I was upset, but not nearly as upset as when I came home one night and found, ‘Pakis out of Britain’, painted on my front door,” he adds.

The Muslim officer says that on another occasion a pig’s head was thrown into his garden. Chief Supt Dizaei says he later struck up a friendship with another officer living in Whitley, Denzil Macintosh, who also suffered racism when thugs defecated in a jam jar and threw it through his bedroom window while he slept.

“We were the only two probationers in Reading who weren’t white, and for some reason, we had been put in the area where we were absolutely guaranteed to be resented, threatened and abused,” he continued. “I resented the fact that Denzil and I were a two-man ghetto, suffering daily racist abuse, living in fear.”

The book also contains numerous examples of racism within the force, including one PC telling Ch Supt Dizaei that he had seen his wife walking up the road with a monkey under her arm – the monkey being his new baby.

Another section describes a PC who urinated on the road while listening to an Asian taxi driver’s description of being attacked by a passenger.

While working at Coley Park with a black officer, he said they were referred to as the “ethnic response unit”, which led to a brawl between him and another PC. Ch Supt Dizaei later set up a racial harassment forum, to help victims in the town.

He writes: “At the end of 1988 Shahin came to me: her family was being abused by a local racist gang, but it hadn’t been possible to gather enough evidence to make an arrest. She needed police protection. I pushed, and managed to get the installation of covert CCTV cameras approved outside her house. On Christmas Day 1988, those cameras spotted the gang putting a petrol bomb through her door.”

GetReading.co.uk